Through His Eyes

Part 5

by

Trycee

Time-Line: 2004-Philadelphia, PA

Disclaimer- I do not own the X-Files. This is written for fun not profit.

*Thank You Paulie Rubens for the idea of this story*

WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION AHEAD

Scully lay in the bed alone, unable to sleep. She was restless as her mind replayed the argument she had with Mulder. She opened her eyes and stared at her headboard for long moments. She was worried as she always was when Mulder recklessly went off alone but Scully was also worried about the repercussions of Mulder's sudden and surprising appearance and what it could mean in Williams life, if Mulder got that close. It had been years since Scully had to sleep alone and she was having a rough time of it. She grabbed Mulder's pillow and pressed it against her nostrils, breathing in his masculine scent as a wave of comfort and warmth washed over her. She tossed her own pillow to the floor and pressed her head into Mulder's pillow until she fell asleep comfortably.

Mulder had stop on his trek towards the highway, picking up a fallen tree branch. He broke off the tree limbs for use as his walking stick to give the impression to anyone who saw him that he was simply a bearded hobo traveling from town to town. He knew how to disguise himself, he'd done it before. Mulder had trekked towards the main highway with his thumb raised in the air waiting until a truck driver pulled over. "Where ya heading?", the man asked.

"West!", Mulder answered.

"I can take you as far as Chicago."

Mulder nodded and hopped into the truck cabin, placing his stick on the side of him and his bag near his feet. "Thanks," he said, as the driver pulled off heading out of Pennsylvania.

Two entire days had passed and Scully hadn't heard a word from Mulder, not even a text or a call from a payphone. Her stomach was in a knot as her fears threatened to overtake her. Normally Scully threw herself into her work whenever she was forced to deal with a crisis in her life but unlike the numerous times before her school work was now suffering and she had even been sloppy with her surgical technique. There were two people flooding her every thought and she could barely concentrate on anything else. Internally, Scully was in a near panic but outwardly she continued on as usual, throwing herself into her books, studying and re-studying terms she already knew by heart and operating procedures she could do in her sleep, if she slept. For the past two days she had slept only curled up to Mulder's pillow. Scully had barely eaten since the day Mulder had left and her appetite was non-existent and her throat was parched.

Images played in Scully's mind like a projector, she could see Mulder in his casket being lowered into the ground with dark rich soil falling from her hands on top of his casket. She was having very vivid nightmares as well that caused her to wake screaming and shaking. In her nightmares, she could see William disappearing in a blue truck far from her grasp and she could see Mulder lying in a pool of blood. It was too much for her to take.

Scully lay alone in their bed, her nose breathing in the scent of Mulder when she felt a soft tiny hand press against her waist. She jerked up, gasping as she reached for the light. She switched it on and saw a red headed William rubbing his eyes and yawning in her bed. Stunned, Scully pulled him into her arms and gently stroked his hair. "What is it, William?", she said, lovingly. "Do you miss me? Do you miss daddy? Is that why you keep coming back to us?"

The boy sleepily snuggled deeper in her arms and Scully laid back down with William pressed against her side and with her arm wrapped protectively around his small body. She listened to the soft snoring breaths of him until she found herself drifting off to sleep as well.

Mulder's beard had grown bushier in the last two days making him look like a wild man. His clothes were dusty from standing for hours waiting for the perfect hitchhike, one that would pick him up and take him to his destination. He had been lucky for the most part, bringing him right into the Jackson Hole valley to Jackson, Wyoming. Mulder was shocked by the large expanse of sky and snow capped mountains as the backdrop. The winter grass had turned brown and was coated with snow but it was still the most amazing view Mulder had ever seen. Mulder was convinced that while working on the X-Files, he had driven through Wyoming once or twice but he knew that he had never seen something so beautiful, so picture perfect.

Mulder sat in the local library searching through the yellow pages. The only other clue to Williams whereabouts was the grocery store that Mulder had seen in his vision. Mulder searched the listings for grocery stores and crossed out the various convenience stores attached to gas stations and deli's that doubled as pharmacies; he had just three real choices for grocery stores within the city limits of Jackson. With no other leads to find William, Mulder knew he had to trust his gut and find his son.

Mulder paid for a room at a rundown motel using one of his alias credit cards and drivers license created by The Lone Gunmen. The hotel reminded him of his days in the X-Files tromping around with Scully from one part of the country to the next in an endless precession. Mulder tossed his duffel bag onto the chair. He quickly showered and trimmed his beard to make himself more presentable. He needed to blend in with the locals as he searched for his son and the last thing he needed was to call attention to himself, especially from law enforcement. Mulder changed into a fresh t-shirt and jeans and was out the door quickly, ready to search the first grocery store on his list. Mulder knew that his memory would serve him well as he marched from store to store, searching for the one William had been in, but he had no concrete evidence of his son's whereabouts. Mulder was operating on purely his gut feelings. and all that he knew for certain was that he had to find him. Using his secure credit card and ID, Mulder rented himself a car and set off on his quest.

Mulder entered the Albertson's grocery store and stopped in his tracks. He knew immediately that the location was all wrong. It was a typical chain store and so he turned and retreated back to his car. He drove on to the next grocery, Jackson Whole Grocery and again, he knew it was the wrong location. He had one other choice within the city limits and he drove on and pulled up in the parking. He knew right away that this was the parking lot where he had watched Williams adoptive parents drive off away from him.

Mrs. Vandekamp glanced up towards the sky. Snow clouds were forming above them and the air smelled crisp and clean. Mrs. Vandekamp secured the latch on the car seat seat belting a bundled up William in place. "Are you ready to go for a ride?", she said, in a motherly tone.

William shook his head and his face turned red. "Eat-Eat!", the toddler said. "Ma, eat-eat!"

Mrs. Vandekamp smiled. "Alright, I know, eat-eat. We just need to wait for daddy."

The toddler shook his head no, and began to whine and pout. Mr. Vandekamp zipped up his coat and then locked the front door, bounding down the steps with a lunch sack in his hands. He stood in front of the small cab door of his blue truck and opened the plastic containers, placing them on Williams car-seat tray. He had brought sliced apples and a few pretzels for him to snack on. "There you go, buddy."

William smiled delightedly and stuck his pretzels in his mouth. His eyes lit up as he tasted his snack. "Mmmm," he said. Mr. Vandekamp chuckled and then turn to his wife. She looked affectionately at her son, "He is the cutest thing ever, don't you agree? Those big blue eyes, I swear he knows things."

Mr. Vandekamp placed his hand on his wife's arm. "He's like an old soul, isn't he?"

"He is," she smiled.

"Ah," he said, shaking his head. "We better stop talking about stuff like that. There's no such thing, only heaven and hell," he said, closing the small side door of his blue truck enclosing William. "Forgive me lord!", he said, under his breath.

Mrs. Vandekamp buttoned up her own coat as a chill ran through her. She glanced down at the long dress she was wearing and sighed. "I should've wore my long boots," she said as she climbed into the passenger side. She slammed the rusty car door closed and waited for her husband to rev up the truck and take off.

"Oh", she said. "While we're in town, we need to buy a couple of bags of cattle feed."

"Yep," he agreed, as he drove across the dirt road.

"And we need some more of that smoked bacon from the butcher," she said, turning to look at her husband.

"Yep," he added.

"Yep!", William mimicked.

The couple giggled. "I wonder how he'll react when we bring home Peter."

Mr. Vandekamp eyed William in his rear view mirror. "Peter is seven years old. I think he'll be jealous at first, but I think he'll adjust pretty quickly. He may even like having an older brother."

Mrs. Vandekamp pulled down the mirror in the visor, watching as William in a soft baby voice sang out to himself. "Jer-e-miah...bullfrog!", William sang as he stared out the window. "Whata good ben a mine!"

Mrs. Vandekamp chuckled. "He sure loves that song!"

"Yeah, he does," Mr. Vandekamp agreed. "Remind me to record him singing it. I want to remember it forever."

They pulled into the parking lot of Lucky's Market. Mr. Vandekamp stepped out of his car and retrieved an empty grocery cart. He latched William into the top seat of the buggy and then he waited for his wife to grab her purse and headed into the natural food store.

"Don't forget Bacon!", the man said.

His wife laughed. "I bet that's all you remember."

Mulder entered Lucky's Market and he immediately recognized the store. He had a strong sense that something was about to happen and he wasn't sure what it was. He grabbed a cart and the store paper, pretending that he was interested in the sale items while he was scanning the faces of the people looking for any signs of his son.

Mulder walked down the various aisles, and then grabbed up a box from the snack aisle, he grimaced from the selection of healthy food. He was startled when he heard the tiny voice belt out, "DADDY!"

Mulder turned towards the back of the aisle and saw a three year old child sitting in the buggy, surrounded by two adults as the child pointed in his direction. Mulder walked slowly towards the end of the aisle, pretending to care about shopping as his eyes locked onto the boy that he recognized as his son. His heart began to race and his throat went dry as he stood idly in the aisle.

William began to whine and cry as he stared at his father just a few steps away from him. He pulled at the straps that had him tethered to the buggy but without much effort, the straps unlatched on their own. William stood up with his hands outstretched to Mulder. His tiny voice shrieked and cried as he stared at him with his arms outstretched wanting Mulder to pick him up. Mulder stared at his son. He was real, alive and in the flesh. Hearing William cry for him caused a large lump to form in Mulder's throat. He was helplessly watching as William pleaded to be picked up.

The adoptive father noticed that William was standing in the cart and so he gathered him up in his arms. William pointed behind him, "Daddy!"

"Yes, buddy, daddy's here," the man said.

Mulder felt a surge of rage inside of him but he tempered it down. He watched as Mrs. Vandekamp grabbed the paper package wrapped carefully by the butcher and placed it in her buggy and began pushing it ahead of her. Mulder tried not to look suspicious as he followed them throughout the store. William stared back at him from above his adoptive father's shoulders, occasionally waving in his direction. It took all of Mulder's strength to not knock the man down and grab his son and run. But, Mulder knew that he would never get very far and he was already wanted by the FBI. He knew that he had to be cautious or else he would never return to Scully.

He follow them to the check out lanes and he stood in a different lane, haphazardly tossing the food items onto the conveyer belt. The Vandekamps grabbed their bags and headed for the exit. Mulder's cashier handed him his receipt and he snatched it out of her hand. He had no clue what he had purchased but he grabbed his bag dumping it in an empty buggy and raced out of the store. Mulder scanned the parking lot and then spotted them. He could see the small family loading William back in his car seat and then the wife closed her door, waiting as her husband pulled out into traffic. Mulder started his rental car and drove a few yards behind them, tailing them as tightly as he could without being noticed. The couple stopped at the local feed store and so Mulder sat in his car, waiting for them to return. Again he tailed them to the Sweetwater Restaurant. Mulder sat in his car for an hour until they returned, with William who was having a tantrum. They drove off far ahead of him. Mulder was growing more impatient as the minutes ticked on. The couple began to leave the city and the roads changed from paved to dirt. Traffic was blocking his view of them. There were four cars separating him from the blue truck until they had all turned off leaving his car and the blue truck as the only ones left on the road. There was no traffic light at the four way stop and to the left, a large tree had fallen into the road, blocking Mr. Vandekamp's view of incoming traffic. He edged past the stop sign and seeing that to his left all was clear, he pulled out just as a semi-truck rounded the tree debris and slammed into them, crushing it and rolling it over.

Mulder screamed and he threw open the car door and raced towards the blue truck. "WILLIAM!", he screamed, frantically. WILLIAM!"

Mulder knelt down on the pavement, staring at the helpless form of Mr. Vandekamp, trapped his seat belt upside down. Mulder could see a large gash from his head down to his face that was bleeding uncontrollably. Mulder could hear him breathing shallow breaths. He noticed that Mrs. Vandekamp had gone through the windshield and lay motionless on the black tar pavement. He knew immediately that she was dead. Mulder in a shaky voice screamed, "WILLIAM?"

He forced the cab door open and his heart stopped beating for a second. He could see William strapped in his car seat upside down with his hands dangling down. Williams frightened blue eyes stared back at him. His pupils were wide and Mulder realized that his son was in shock. Mulder snapped the latch off Williams car seat and grabbed him, holding him tightly to his chest. "William?"

Mulder could hear a tiny sniffling sound and he searched Williams head for trauma. William began to scream and cry and Mulder clutched him tightly to his chest, whispering, "It's okay, I promise it's okay."

Mulder pulled William back away from his chest so he could examine him checking each limb for fractures, in the way he knew Scully would. Mulder carried William back to where Mr. Vandekamp lay upside down and he checked for a pulse but lowered his hand when he'd realized Mr. Vandekamp had died just like his wife. Mulder turned his attention to the driver of the large truck. With William cradled against him, he raced over to the semi but quickly realized tell that the driver too was dead, his body thrown out of his truck, crushed from the weight of the semi. Mulder backed away, he could smell a distinct smell and with William in his arms, he raced back to the rental car, pulling off and fleeing the scene. Mulder glanced back as the semi-truck exploded shaking the ground from the force and engulfing the Vandekamps in a fiery mass. Mulder looked down at his three year old son who was clutching his coat tightly, sitting on his lap as he drove away frantically. Mulder shook his head in disbelief, "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?", he said, staring into the frightened face of his son. "You knew!"

William pressed his small head to his father's chest, his only answer to Mulder's question was the silent tears that trailed down his tiny face. Mulder, still gripping his son tightly on his lap, rushed back towards his hotel room.

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